The 10 Craziest Mental Asylums in America

Where real-life American horror stories are made.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Season two of FX's American Horror Story: Asylum comes to a close tonight at 10 p.m. Set in 1964 at fictional mental institution Briarcliff, and staffed by a crew of morally ambiguous nuns, (Jessica Lange and Lily Rabe), creator-producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have provided plenty of material for a wild, occasionally terrifying ride that we're sad to see come to an end (but that will no doubt haunt our dreams for some time to come).

The hi-jinks of your favorite mentally unstable staff may be over after tonight, but you don't have to check out of the institution just yet. The US has a rich history of deeply flawed asylums that have set the scene for countless real-life American horror stories that make Briarcliff look like a retirement home.

Here are the worst of them: Get to know The 10 Craziest Mental Asylums in America.

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10. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

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9. Byberry Mental Hospital

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8. Danvers State Hospital

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7. Bloomingdale Insane Asylum

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6. Pilgrim Psychiatric Center

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5. Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital

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4. Overbrook Insane Asylum

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3. Topeka State Hospital

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2. Pennhurst Insane Asylum

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1. Athens Lunatic Asylum

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